Lester Young Changed His Style, Part 2: Zan Stewart's Favorites, Jeff Rupert on Mouthpieces, & Conclusions

Last time (see the Index) we discussed the downsides of knowing only the later recordings of Lester Young, which is often the case today, and we’ll discuss that some more at the end of this essay. But we went on to show that there are indeed many gems from the 1940s and ‘50s.

Today, subscriber Zan Stewart, a longtime jazz journalist and saxophonist, shares with us some of his favorite tracks of “Postwar Pres.” Here’s Zan:

POSTWAR PRES by Zan Stewart:

One sterling example: his sublime version of "Stardust," with Oscar Peterson, Barney Kessel, Ray Brown, and J.C. Heard, recorded August 4, 1952. If this isn't greatness, what is?:

There are tracks at fast tempos that are also knock-outs, like "Three Little Words," from a radio broadcast of the Cafe Bohemia on December 15, 1956, with Idrees Sulieman (tp), Sinclair Raney (p—his only recordings are from this month with Young), Gene Ramey (b), and Willie Jones (d):

And here's another version of "Three Little Words" from the same month, in Washington D.C., with the trio of pianist Bill Potts. I would argue that if one went out today and heard a tenor player sounding like this, it would indeed be foot-tapping and smile-making—as it is said these days, “imho.” Pres starts his solo at 0:42 with a little quote from “Two Sleepy People”:

And here's a clip from the almost-completed (but still seeking support!) documentary about Lester by Henry Ferrini. Here, Sonny Rollins talks about his admiration for Pres, praising his later style and specifically mentioning “Three Little Words.”

Sonny did tell me that Pres sat in once with the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet in Detroit. That must have been something to hear. (From Zan Stewart.)

Thank you Zan! Since we just heard two of Young’s performances of “Three Little Words,” it is fascinating to hear Rollins say that his performances of that song were influenced by Young’s. During the 1960s, that song was one of the ones most often played by Rollins. In fact, I presented a previously unissued version by Rollins and Coleman Hawkins from 1963. For more about that July 1956 encounter of Sonny and Pres, see Chapter 17 of Aidan Levy’s definitive Rollins biography.

But how did Young achieve such strikingly different tone qualities over the course of his career? Last time we easily disproved the common claim that his style changed because he had a “hard time” in the Army. I’ll provide a full explanation in a later essay, but the most important point, for now, is that there is no difference between his playing before and after the Army, as I showed back in my 1985 book. The related idea, that his style changed because he couldn’t play the way he used to, is ridiculous, and a bit insulting. The proof that this is nonsense is that Young specifically spent time and money to test and then purchase a variety of mouthpieces over the years in order to obtain different sounds. That is, he had a sound in mind each time, and found the necessary equipment to realize it.

Award-winning saxophonist and educator Jeff Rupert has studied the evolution of Young’s sound and here are some of his observations.

Young’s “Set Up,” by Jeff Rupert:

The mouthpiece and reed combination that a musician chooses—informally known as one’s “set up”—has a profound affect on the overall tone production. In the late 1930s Basie recordings featuring Pres, he plays an Otto Link mouthpiece. Otto was one of the foremost saxophone mouthpiece manufacturers by the early 1930’s. He incorporated a larger chamber and unique design which helped propel the modern jazz saxophone sound conception, which was quickly developing at that time. Sax mouthpieces prior to this era were more geared to classical playing (which at that time was very limited in repertoire), or generic saxophone playing (remember, the saxophone up to the late 1920s was a popular vaudeville instrument). 

The earliest Otto Link was the Master Link model, used by Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins, and many others. This model had the largest chamber (kind of a back bore, if you will) made by Link. The larger chamber offers a wider array of tonal possibilities; it frees up the saxophonist to have an individual sound, which is ideal for jazz. The mouthpiece that Young used on those early Basie dates was the next generation, introduced in 1935—the 4-Star Model (this is the actual model name, not to be confused with a number 4 tip opening on a mouthpiece, which we will discuss below):

There is a wonderful website maintained by saxophone mouthpiece maker Theo Wanne that illustrates and discusses the qualities of Otto Link mouthpieces.

Around 1943, Pres switched to the Ebolin model mouthpiece manufactured in Great Neck, New York by Arnold Brilhart:

Brilhart mouthpieces were also played by Benny Carter, Charlie Parker, Gene Ammons, and others. These have a lighter, brighter and yet refined character, compared with the Links. Brilhart’s mouthpieces came in numerous models—the  Ebolin, Tonalin (Bird and Benny Carter played this for a time), Streamline (Bird also played this, as did Getz), and a British version called the Personaline.

While Brilharts were exceptionally well made, there was one flaw—the facing, or opening numbering system. Most players during the thirties and forties played mouthpieces ranging from a tip opening of 4 to about 6. This would include Lucky Thompson, Lester Young, Ben Webster, John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, and Cannonball Adderley, to name a few.  The Brilhart mouthpieces were fabricated and labeled prior to their finishing, which required a baking process to harden them. An inconsistent rate of heating and cooling would change the mouthpiece tip openings! So, you may find a Brilhart that says 2 or 3 on it, but it may be much bigger than labeled. 

One misconception among younger players is that a bigger mouthpiece will make a bigger sound, and this is simply not true. In addition, there has been speculation about why Pres’s sound changed in the 1940s. A saxophonist of Pres’s stature and accomplishment would not change his equipment and simply let the new gear dictate his sound conception. When he switched to the Brilhart and left the round, mellow tone of his earlier Otto Link days, it was for a reason. I believe it related to an evolution of his sound conception. He was too profound a musician to allow his playing to be predicated by a mouthpiece. I’m of the opinion that the sound in his head was more easily facilitated by the equipment change. I’ve had numerous discussions about Pres’s evolving sound conception. The most striking thing to me is that various well-known musicians are drawn to  different periods of Pres’s playing and sound. Lester Young’s impact is both visceral and intellectual through all these periods. That is perhaps the vital essence to be learned from all this information. 

Jeff Rupert

Thank you Jeff! More info on Young’s mouthpieces is here. As for reeds, of course cane reeds are standard. But several sources during his lifetime said that Young used long-lasting synthetic (aka “plastic”) reeds, which became available as early as around 1940. Judging by his sound on recordings, it’s certainly believable that he used them consistently on the Verve recordings from about 1952 onward. And for the saxophone itself, he famously played a Conn with Basie and beyond, until the 1950s in France when he was given an instrument by the Dolnet company, which he played from then on.

TO CONCLUDE: Young’s early work, say though 1942, has clarity of thought, and a kind of perfection of phrasing and execution. This was new in saxophone playing, and in jazz playing in general, although it was a natural extension of Armstrong’s work in the 1920s. So it makes sense that it was the early Pres that changed the face of jazz. His early to mid-’40s work has a power not found in his earlier work, a power that impressed Coltrane and Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Gene Ammons, and many others—as well as Miles Davis. So it too had a broad impact.

By the 1950s, he was a legend because of his earlier impact, but he was no longer on the cutting edge. And during his last decade, his work sometimes suffered from technical shortcomings, as Kevin Sun correctly noted at the beginning of the previous essay. If one approaches the ‘50s recordings hoping to hear “the great Pres who influenced everybody,” one will be sorely disappointed.

But—if one can forget all that, and just listen to the ‘50s work for pleasure, at Young’s best there is a flow of lyrical ideas that works beautifully.

And, please note, these two essays are only a very brief intro to Pres’s later work. He also went through a bebop phase in the late ‘40s—again, proof that he was consciously changing his style, not “attempting” to play the way he used to. We’ll get into all that, and more, eventually.

And—you know what? I can’t resist playing for you one more recording. In January 1956, Young made an album for Verve with Teddy Wilson on piano, Gene Ramey on bass, and his favorite drummer, Jo Jones. To kick off the session they played a blues in G, which somebody, probably producer Norman Granz, later titled “Pres Returns.” It was not included in the original album, only issued later, but to me it’s one of the most remarkable examples of a group of artists working as one. Below I’m giving you the last half, starting from the end of Wilson’s elegant but deeply soulful blues playing (an overlooked side of his art). Young enters for his closing solo, and Wilson continues to play in a rich, full style that supports the saxophonist beautifully. Pres plays fewer notes here than on any of the recordings you’ve yet heard in these two essays, but what he plays is powerful and deeply expressive. Meanwhile, Jones just builds and builds, until the swing is irresistible. When Pres launches into a quote of “Lester Leaps In” at 1:39—Wow! Don’t even try to stop yourself from moving to this music. For just 2 and-a-half minutes, please close your eyes, and surrender to this experience:

All the best,
Lewis